Bottle-capper



J. W. SMALL.

BOTTLE CAPPER. APPLICATION FILED APR.12, 1920.

1,350,477, Patented Aug. 24, 1920,

2 SHEETS-SHEET l. l L A H 1 f7 71j@ l v J. W. SMALL.

BOTTLE CAPPER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. l2, i920.

1,350,477. Patented Aug. 24,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

, 23756722077 Jn/nes 0U. ma ZZ,

JAMES w. sMALL, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BOTTLE-CAPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

Application led April 12, 1920. Serial No. 373,074.

Tod/ZZ whom it may concern.' l Be it known that I, JAMES XV. SMALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Cappers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object the provision of a device of the class named which shall be of improved construction and operation. i

' The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the following specification, and it is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. I

Figure 1 is a side elevation of abottle capper embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 isa view looking from the right of Fig. i;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal'sectionon'line 3 3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing details of construction.

I AY well-known form of closure for bottles comprises a metal cap, usually'p'rovided with va layer of cork or other material, which is forced over a bead at the mouth of the bottle and the edges of the cap are crimped to tightly engageV the bead so that the cork Vforms an airtight seal with the mouth of the bottle. I

VThe devicev shown in the accompanying drawings performs the operation of pressing the caps into `place over the mouths of the bottles so that the crimped edges will hold them permanently.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates an upright support or standard which has a footpiece 11 which is provided with a seat 12 on which the bottles rest during the capping operations. Centering pieces 13 Vproject upwardly from thev bottle support to hold the bottles in proper position while they are being capped. A sleeve 14 is adjustably mounted on. the standard 10 and may be heldin various positions of adjustment by a cup set screw 15. Projecting outwardly from the sleeve 14 is a pair of arms 16 each of which carries a guide sleeve 17 having upright openings therethrough. A lever 18 is pivoted at 19 to the sleeve 14 adjacent the base of the arms 16 and is prcvided with a curved slot 20, as shown In .F ig, 4. capping head 21 is supported by `a pivot pin 22 which extends through the slot 20 and connects upwardly extending ears 23 on the capping head 2l. A pair of guide rods 24 are connected to Vlaterally extending lugs 25 on opposite sides of the capper head 21 and the rods 24 extend through the openings'in the guide sleeves 17 to cause the head 21 to move upwardly and downwardly in a vertical direction when the lever 18 is swung upon its pivotV 19. The rods 24 are slightly curved outwardly at the lower ends, as shown at 26, so that when the lever 18 is raised to its extreme uppermost posivtion the outer sides of the rods 24 will have a wedging engagement with Vthe openings in the guide sleeves 1T lto produce suiiicient friction to retain the lever 18m its raised position. It will be seen. that the slot 2O is slightly curved so thatv when the Vhandle Y is swung downwardly the curved slot will produce a cam action between the pin 22 and the upper face of the slot which pro- 'duces an increased pressure downwardly on `the capper head 21 so that the operator is enabled to perform a capping operation by exerting a comparatively light pressure on the lever 18. It will be observed thatthe lever 18 engages the capper head 21 directly 'so that it is able to exert direct pressure on the part performing the capping operation and that the two guide rods 24 are spaced laterally from the capper head and occupy substantially the same position vertically as the capper head s o that the height of the device is kept down to the smallest possible limit. An additional bottle support 27 is carriedlby a sleeve 28 which surrounds the standard 10 and rests upon an upwardly extending pedestal 29 on the main footpiece 11. The support 27 may be swung about the standard 10 into and out of operative position, and when4 in operative position it is used for holding smaller bottles than those placedvupon the support 12 of the footpiece l1. The footpiece 11 may be provided with openings 30 for receiving screws to hold the device permanently in position.

The bottles to be capped are placed on the footpiece 12, as shown in broken lines at 31 in Fig. 1, and the sleeve 14 is adjusted to bring the capper head 21 to the proper height so that when the lever 18 is raised the bottles will move freely into and out of bottle is being placed into position the lever l is raised to itsupper limit so that it is held in place by the lower portions 2b' oi the guides 2%, thus leaving the hands of the operator free to place vthe' vcapv in -position on-the mouth of the bottle.V The lever is then moved downwardly so that the recess 32 in the capper head 2l engages the cap andV forces it. iimly over the bead around the mouth of the bottle. made of proper proportions so that When the vsleeve/114A is adjustedto operate properly upon quart bottles the support 27 Will be Vo-'Y properfheight to` hold pint bottles in position to be capped. vIt Willybe lseen that vthe total height or the ca'pper is only slightly greater thanthat Yofthe bottle with Vvvhich it operatedand'it has been found. by; trial that comparatively slight pressureis all that is necessary to. lorce the'capsirmly into Ypositionupon` the mouth of the bottle;

,1 The recess 32 is preferably formed with its upper portion 33, tapering, see Figs. ..1

and 4. This provides arneans for insuring that the capA is closed in tightly on the bottle bead, The head 2l Willbe pressed down in the capping operation until the tapering ,portion 33 closes the'cap onto thev bottle bead 'and 'stops further movement lofsaidl head.

This, .of course, provides means forl securely fastening the caps. eventhoughrtheY beads of the bottles vary slightly insize.

I have'indicated 'set screws 'Se in the mein- .bers28 and 29 so that the standard l0 Lmay be taken out of theparts28 and 29 v.for packing 'in a small spaceor,any other purpose.

o Furthermore, I find it desirable to provide recesses in the standard 10 so that the set screw l5 can-beset. at predetermined po- Senedup against thev standardl() at other vplaces than the recesses 35 avhenyso/ de- .easily 'sett 4 5 sitions along'on the-standard 10Q, It Will be apparent that the screWhl-can-be tightsired, but. the recesses'provide means for ing the head 14: at predetermined heightsfI f if 'l f 4 The device is usually position to retain" said lever in said posi- 'l claim Y Y l. A bottle capper comprising a cap-engaging member, a pair oi'' guide rods connected 'with' saidf member and arranged at the tion. s v 4 bottle capper comprising a stand having afbottle support connected therewith,

-an upright standard a, sleeve adjustably mounted on said standard, a lever pivotally carried by said sleeveAV and having a cam slot therein, a cap-engaging member connected Withsaidslceve and afpivo't pin extending Y throughfsaid lcam slot, upright fguide rods arranged at opposite sides of said cap-engaging member, and a pair of guide sleeves ior said. upright rods, said rods being slightly oifsetA toY produce' a binding' friction between said rods andguide sleeves Lwhen said lever is in its uppermost. position to re- -ftain said lever in said position.v

A bottle capper comprising a standard having a supporting bracket vadjustably mounted thereon, alever pivotally carried `by said supporting bracket and having a cani 'Y lslot therein, a capi-engaging member haif'ing a Ypivot'pin projecting through said f camV slot, a pair of upright guide rods secured to frictionally engage one another when said lever lis'- `in .v its4 uppermostjposition to retain said-lever: in said position.

,l .ln-'testimony Whereofll havesigned my nameto this specication'on thislOth day 0i* April, A; Diese. f

JAME s W. SMALL; 

